"She's back Hoot Hoot."
Really how Luz had managed to find her way from Amity's parent's mansion to Eda's house was anyone's guess considering at the moment the human girl couldn't remember anything except the soft press of lips against her cheek.
She didn't even acknowledge when King attached himself to her leg after Hooty's exclamation begging her not to stay away so long again as she kept walking toward the blurred outline of the place, she called home on the Boiling Isles the echo mouse still riding quietly on her shoulder. In a small part of her frazzled mind, Luz is considering calling her new friend Wit after that other human Wittebane considering it did eat his journal.
"Luz? Hey? Are you okay kiddo?"
Light pressure on her mouse-free shoulder has Luz blinking away some of the haze Amity's kiss cast of her mind with Eda's concerned face came into clearer focus.
"You're all banged up and covered in paper cuts plus you have a horrible mouse trying to hitch a ride on you." Eda lists off attempting to bat Wit away but only caused him to scurry over to Luz's other shoulder with a grumpy hiss as his tail wrapped securely around the human girl's neck anchoring himself against her shoulder.
"Did someone say mouse Hoot Hoot?" the door-dwelling owl questions licking his lips in anticipation.
"King hungry too." The black-furred little goober still attached to her argues finally letting go of her leg to start climbing up toward the shaking mouse on Luz's shoulder.
"No one is eating Wit." Luz argues her voice much stronger than her still hazy mind as she shakes King off and covering the echo mouse with a reassuring "Your alright little guy." As she stroked a finger down his back. Whit gave a pleased squeak as he nuzzles against her palm.
"We don't need any more pet, Luz." Eda groans as she too eyes the book-eating rodent with hungry eyes. Luz didn't miss the shrug the pair make at one another either but neither Eda nor King voice any of the questions she can see in their eyes just yet.
"Well, I'm sorry but this little guy ate up the diary I need to make a new portal to go home. We're not hurting him." Luz argues still shielding the echo mouse with her hand.
"Alright alright take it easy." Eda answers rocking back on her heels to get a better look at her protégée.
Luz felt her cheeks heat up again as her free hand moves once again toward the place Amity's lips had been under her teacher's scrutinizing gaze. King now perched on Eda's shoulder instead also appraising the human girl but mostly he was glaring jealously at the mouse taking his place on Luz's shoulder as the quiet stretches on a few more beats before someone speaks up.
"Let's get you inside and cleaned up," Eda suggests eyeing a few of Luz's cuts as she drops King back on his own paws as she turns back toward the house. "then you can tell us what else happened today."
"But King still hungry." King pouts hurry after the other two.
"And I wasn't finished dictating my letter to LuLu." Hooty reminds giving the spaced-out human a glimpse of what she'd missed at the famous Owl House whilst she was having her own adventure in the library.
"There are still some crackers in the cabinet you can devour, and we can finish that novel you call a letter later, Hootsifer." Eda decides waving off the tubular house guard's watery eyes.
"Only LuLu can call-" Hooty starts to argue but the other three have already left the living room by then, but they do hear the front door close harder than needed with a sniffed "I miss LuLu."
"So how was Amity today anyway?"
Luz knew Eda was prodding after herding her into the house then again in guiding her back into the kitchen already pulling out some ointment and bandages for the burns and cuts to her arms from her time getting Amity her job back, but Luz could already feel her face coloring up once more at the name.
"Her hair is lavender now."
Eda perks up at the dream-like tone in the human's voice as she starts dabbing ointment on the cuts to Luz's arm. "Oh, I bet Mama Blight won't be too keen on that one."
"Amity can handle her." Luz argues with an amused smile when she notices the way Wit and King were already fighting over the cracker box on the other side of the kitchen. "Even if she did say she doesn't want to see me again."
"What?" Eda snorted and Luz can hear the hard 'Mama Bear' edge to the playful exclamation making her smile a little at Eda's protective side coming out again. "When and why would she say a silly thing like that?"
"Right after she kissed me and she was running back to the front door of her house saying, 'bye forever' then she was gone." Luz answers in a hiss when Eda dabs at a particularly deep scratch to her arm before she could stop herself slumping down to hide her face in her crossed arms.
"Wwwhhaatt."
Luz blinks at the three-way exclamation considering Hooty was now stretching himself back into the kitchen with them. Eda and King looking equally surprised by the confession whilst Wit gleefully scurry off the counter with a few stollen crackers stacked on his back.
"Oh no." Luz exclaims but the other three can tell it was just her way of defecting as she points off toward the darkened corner of the kitchen the retreating echo mouse had vanished towards. "Looks like Wit is making a break for it. Gotta go make sure he can't get to any more books before I get all that diary knowledge out of him." She goes on stumbling off her stool.
Even the mouse stopped to give the human girl an unimpressed look at the comment now sitting up in his back legs to nibble on a stollen cracker much to King's annoyance.
"Looks like Lil owes me a jug of apple blood. Yes." Eda cheers "Yes, Yes, Yes Yeess." She chants even going so far as to do a victory dance in the middle of the kitchen.
"You had a bet going?" Luz groans
"Just a small one." Eda defends "I mean come on with the way you two are around each other it's a wonder it took so dang long."
"How else was in on this?" Luz demands
"Everyone in our ragtag gang that isn't you or Amity." Eda shrugs still dancing around and waving her arms in victory.
Luz feels her cheeks heating up again at the confession. "Everyone?" she squeaks horrified.
"Well, me, King, Hooty, Lil, Morton, even Mom chipped in after she heard Lil and me talking about it with the Blight twins." Eda nodes with a grin.
"I'm gonna go start copying down Phil's journal and start prying this conversation is all just a horrible dream." Luz says scooping Wit from the floor and drudging toward her room.
"And I can stop copying down every Hoot and lam description Hooty calls a letter and tell Lil the juicy stuff she's missing." Eda says gleefully swiping a full sleeve of crackers from King then holds the pack out of his reach, so he has to jump to try and get them back.